Method of making shoes.



J. A. BROGAN.

METHOD OF MAKING SHOES.

APILIOATION FILED 313.28, 191s 1,@93,3 Patented Apr. 14, 1914.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

J. A. BROGAN.

METHOD OF MAKING SHOES. APPLICATION FILED FEB. 28, 1913.

LOQSMSQE Patented Apr. 14, 1914.

7 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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JAMES A. IBROGAN, OF LAWRENCE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR T0 UNITED SHOE MACHINERY COMPANY, OF PATERSON, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW J ERSEY.

METHOD OF MAKING SHOES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 141, 31%14.

To all who). itmay concern: 1

Be it known that I, JAMES A. BROGAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Lawrence, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods of Making Shoes; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, audexact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The presentinvention relates to the art of making boots and shoes and is particularly applicable to the art of making welt shoes. In accordance with the usual-practice in making this type of shoe, the upper is first lasted over the edge of an insole and is temporarily secured in position at the sides by a plurality of lasting tacks inserted at irregular intervals. The toe portion of the upper is bound in and held by a toe wire passed about the toe of the shoe and retained at its opposite ends by anchor tacks driven deeply into the last approximately in the line of the inseam. After the upper is partially or wholly set in this lasted position the side lasting tacks are withdrawn and a lesser number of light holding tacks are substituted. The upper, welt and insole are then permanently united by a line of inseam stitches and finally all of the temporary metallic fastcnings are removed from the shoe. This method of manufacture is open to several disadvantages, however, which not only seriously interfere with the efiiciency of the shoe making operation, but also impair the value of the finished product. In the first place, the tacks interfere with the needle of the welt sewing machine, frequently breaking the needle and causing delay and increased cost in the manufacture of the shoe. Further, the anchor tacks are often located in such a. position that'the welt must be sewed on around them, forming a bunch at this point and interrupting the regular contour of the inseam which causes a defacement that is extremely difficult to remove in the subsequent finishing operations. After the welt has been sewed on, some of the tacks are often wholly or partially hidden by the inseam, causing the operator to overlook them when removing the tacks from the shoe. These remaining tacks sometimes contact with the knife of the inseam trimming machine, nicking and dulling the edge, and sometimes stay permanently in the shoe,causing irreparable damage.

In order to avoid the foregoing and other disadvantages incident to the use of tacks, several methods have been devised for temporarily holding the upper and sole in place during the sewing operation to allow the tacks to be withdrawn. The first method consists in lasting the shoe in the usual manner and then temporarily securing the upper and solo by a series of clips which are bent over the edge of the upper and lip of the insole and are positioned about the sides and toe of the shoe. These fasteners are positioned above the line of the inseam, thus avoiding interference with the sewing machine needle and replace all of the lasting tacks and the toe wire. Before the projectmg margin of the inseam can be trimmed, however, it is necessary to remove these clips so that this method consists substantially in substituting for the lasting tacks a different form of fastener which does not interfere with the needle of the sewing machine. In the second method, as practised, the clips referred to in the first method are replaced by individual, metallic fasteners located be- I tween the lasting tacks and inserted substantially parallel to the plane of the insole above the line of inseam stitches and below the margin of the inseam after it has been trimmed. The proper insertion and securing of the fasteners in the shoe requires considerable skill, especially where the thickness of the between substance forming the inseam varies, and as the metallic fasteners will damage the inseam trimming knife if the knife contacts with them, they must be located accurately in the narrow margin lying below the upper edge of the inseam when trimmed oif. The fasteners are made of fine wire in order to minimize the damage if they contact with the needle or inseam trimming knife and this wire under the-constant flexing of the shoe when worn tends to work through the upper and damage the shoe.

The object of the present invention is to provide an improved method of making welt shoes which eliminates the foregoing disadvantages and produces a finished product of better quality, and by means of which a considerable saving in the cost of the shoe 1S efi'ected.

the metallic fasteners, permanently uniting the upper and sole by a seam of connected thread stitches, and finally trimming the inseam. WVith this method, as outlined above, a minimum amount of thread is employed for retaining the upper in its lasted condition and the fastenings may be placed in any convenient position without interfering with the subsequent operations performed upon the shoe or impairing in any manner the 1 quality of the finished product.

In the accompanying drawings illustrat ing the several stages in the manufacture of a welt shoe; Fig. 1 represents a lasted shoe with the thread fastenings inserted between the tacks about the sides and toe of the shoe; Fig. 2 shows the same shoe after the metallic fasteners have been removed and the welt secured to the shoe by a line of inseam stitches; Fig. 3 is a detail showing a-section upon line 33 of Fig. 2 and illustrating the relative locations in a vertical plane of the thread fastenings and inseam stitches; Fig. 4 shows the same shoe after the inseam has been trimmed and illustrates the manner in which some of the thread fastenings remain in the shoe and some are trimmed ofi; Fig. 5 is a plan view of the shoe shown in Fig. 4 and illustrates the location of the thread fastenings in a horizontal plane; Fig. 6 is a detail showing an enlarged section of the toe portion of the shoe and illustrating the,method of fasten ing the toe and the character of fastening which is preferably employed; and Fig. 7 is a detail showing a section upon the line 7-7 of Fig. 4 and illustrating the location of the thread fastening and inseam stitches after the inseam has been trimmed.

1 The shoe shown in the illustrated embodiment of the invention is first lasted by drawng the upper-1 tightly over the edge of the insole 3 in which lasted position it is held while temporary metallic fasteners are inserted. The upper is detained at the sides by a plurality of lasting tacks 4 and is bound in at the toe by a wire 5 anchored at its op posite ends by tacks 6 driven deeply into the last. After the shoe has been lasted it is allowed to stand for some time to allow the upper to partially or wholly set, when the upper, insole and welt are permanently united by a line of inseam stitches. It is necessary to hold the upper in its lasted position during the sewing operation and this may be accomplished either with the metallic fasteners or with some equivalent means which allow the removal of the fasteners. The metallic fasteners inserted during the lasting of the shoe seriously interfere with the welt sewing operation and to avoid this difficult and still retain all of the advantages o the metallic fasteners, a plurality of thread fasteners are inserted at suitable pointsto hold the upper securely in its lasted position and allow the removal of all of the metallic fasteners. As the location of the thread fasteners is under the control of the operator, the needle employed in making the fasteners need not interfere with the tacks or toe wire and at the same time, the fasteners may be located in close proximity to the tacks to hold the'upper at the points of greatest strain. The formation of these fasteners involves the use of a minimum amount of thread, as only suflicient thread is employed to form each fastener and no lengths of waste thread are left connecting the separate fasteners. Furthermore, it is sometimes desirable to unravel the chain stitch forming the inseam and this may be readily accomplished as there are no loose threads to entangle with the inseam stitches. In the present invention, separate unconnected thread fasteners indicated at 7 are inserted at suitable locations between the lasting tacks in sufficient number to retain the sides of the upper in its lasted position during the welt sewing operation. The pre ferred form of thread fastener is conveniently made by passing two loops of thread successively through the upper and lip of the insole from the outside of the shoe, passing one loop of thread through the other upon the inside of the lip and finally pulling upon the end of the thread from the outside to draw the encircling loop into the work and lock the stitch. This forms a simple and efficient stitch which may be readily of the toe to secure the toe thread at its opposite ends. This forms a simple and efficient method of binding in the toe, which allows the complete removal of the toe wire, and which has a decided advantage, as the needle of the welt sewing machine, when operating about the toe, forces the toe thread through the upper and constantly, tightens it as the sewing operation progresses, causing the sewing of the inseam to exert a distinct lasting effect upon the toe of the upper. The anchor fasteners 8 are inserted in the sides of the toe and the thread 10 connecting the fasteners is bound tightly about the toe and firmly retains all portions of the upper in lasted position. After the thread fastenings have been inserted and the metallic fasteners removed, a welt 12 is secured to the shoe by a line of inseam stitches indicated at 13 and passed through the welt, upper and lip of the insole, as shown clearly in Fig. 3. After the welt has been united to the shoe by a seam of connected thread fastenings, the between substance consisting of the welt, upper and lip of the insole, and forming the inseam, is trimmed off closely to the inseam stitches, as shown clearly in Figs. 4 and 7. As the temporary thread fasteners do not interfere either with the inseam sewing operation or the inseam trimming operation, no especlal accuracy is needed in locating these fasteners vertically, it being sufiicient if they are passed through the upper and lip of the insole to properly secure the upper in its lasted position. Furthermore, it is immaterial whether the fasteners are trimmed off or left in the shoe, as they do not interfere in any way with the inseam stitches or otherwise damage the completed shoe if allowed to remain permanently.

The operations which are performed as above described and illustrated in the drawing are those which are preferred in practising the present invention. It is to be understood, however, that except as defined in the claims the invention is not limited to the precise method illustrated and described, which includes all of the usual operations occurring at this stage in the manufacture of a welt shoe.

The invention having been described, what is claimed is 1. A method of making .boots and shoes which consists inlasting the upper over the edge of the sole and securing it in lasted position by temporary metallic fasteners, inserting a series of unconnected thread fasteners through the upper and lip of the sole to retain the upper in its lasted position, removing the metallic fasteners, permanently uniting the upper and sole by a seam of con nected thread stitches, and finally trimming the inseam.

2. A method of making boots and shoes which consists in lasting the upper over the edge of the sole and securing it in lasted position by temporary metallic fasteners, forming a plurality of stitches between said fasteners to retain the upper in its lasted position, severing the thread at the comple tion of each stitch, removing the metallic fasteners, and permanently uniting the up per and sole by a seam of connected thread stitches.

3. A method of making boots and shoes which consists in lasting the upper over the edge of the sole and securing it in lasted position by temporary metallic fasteners, forming a plurality of stitches from a single thread between said fasteners, locking each stitch to retain the upper in its lasted position, severing the thread at the completion of said stitch, removing the metallic fasteners, and permanently uniting the upper and sole by a seam of connected thread stitches.

4. A method of making boots and shoes which consists in lasting the upper over the edge of the sole and securing it in lasted position by temporary metallic fasteners, insorting a series of unconnected thread fas tenings between the metallic fasteners, passing a thread about the toe and securing the thread at its opposite ends by thread fasteners, removing the metallic fasteners, and permanently uniting the upper and sole by a seam of connected thread stitches.

JAMES A. BROGAN.

Witnesses:

FRED O. FISH, BURTON W. CARY. 

